1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carrier for long, shafted sports equipment and more particularly to a hand held carrier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Long, shafted, sports equipment is awkward to carry. Ice hockey sticks, for example, are typically more than four feet long. Because hockey sticks can break or crack during use, players often carry at least two sticks.
It is fatiguing and uncomfortable to carry long shafted equipment vertically or unbalanced for long distances, such as from a car in a parking lot to an arena or playing field. Carrying long shafted equipment, such as hockey sticks, vertically or unbalanced locks the wrist in a flexed position, which over time is fatiguing and uncomfortable. If the player grasps the sticks away from their center of gravity, the unbalanced sticks flex the wrist away from a neutral position. Furthermore, the sticks' center of gravity concentrates the weight on the flexed wrist which additionally stresses the wrist.
Carrying hockey sticks horizontally stresses the wrist less. When carrying the sticks horizontally, however, they jut out several feet in front and behind the player. In order to open doors and walk through doorways or narrow corridors to the locker room, the player must tip the sticks vertically. Similarly if the doorway or corridor is crowded, the user must tip the sticks to avoid striking others.
Players usually carry more than just sports sticks. Players must carry the sticks and all of the requisite gear associated with their particular sport. The player's gear usually comprises bulky additional equipment, such as protective padding, uniforms, skates or shoes, helmets, pucks or balls, and the like. During winter, in northern climates where ice hockey is popular, the player may also struggle with heavy winter clothing, boots and gloves. The player carries all of this gear from the parking lot into the ice arena and to the locker room, often over long distances and in one trip.
An additional problem is designing a carrier that a player can easily insert and remove the shafted stick. Carriers with long locking portions are cumbersome when inserting and removing the shaft of the stick. The sidewalls of the carrier must be forced apart to insert the shaft, often requiring both hands to lock the stick into place. Because more of the shaft is locked into the carrier, the shaft will not release as readily from the carrier, again requiring the use of two hands to force apart the sidewalls. These steps become more difficult in colder weather, when hands are cold and stiff and possibly gloved.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,723 discloses a carrier for sports equipment with elongated shafts, particularly hockey sticks. The carrier of the '723 patent retains hockey sticks in elongated, downwardly open, U-shaped channels. The '723 carrier is worn over the shoulder by use of a shoulder strap. The elongated channels are formed by first (outer) sidewalls and a shared inner sidewall. The first, or outer sidewalls, angle from a base to an open mouth of the channels so that the mouth or top edge of the sidewall is closer to the inner sidewall than the portion of the sidewall adjacent the base of the carrier. The outer sidewalls have an included angle of about 86.degree. in the preferred environment. Inserting a hockey stick forces the sidewalls apart, primarily by pushing the outer sidewall outwardly. After inserting the stick, the bias of the first sidewall pushes the sidewall against the stick to retain the stick in position. Although the angled sidewalls ensure that the shaft is held tightly in place, it increases the difficulty of inserting and removing the shaft. If the hockey stick is not centered in the carrier, the sticks will tip with no easy way to compensate for their uneven placement.
Use of a shoulder strap in the '723 patent allows the sticks to be carried horizontally, if the player properly positions the strap on the shoulder. However if the straps of an equipment bag are worn over the carrier's shoulder strap, it can displace or bind the strap in an uncomfortable or difficult to change position. Such binding can also make it more difficult to move the stick into a more vertical position without first lifting up the carrier then tipping the sticks with a free hand. If the equipment bag is not worn over the shoulder, tipping the carrier would rub the strap against the shoulder.
A carrier should provide for the easy insertion and removal by a player of the shaft of a hockey stick. The elongated channels of the '723 patent can make insertion and removal difficult due to friction from an extended area of contact between the shaft and sidewalls and due the angled unbiased orientation of the first sidewalls. The '723 patent appears to contemplate that the sidewalls of the carrier must be forced apart before insertion or extraction of a shaft. This appears to require the use of both hands just to manipulate the carrier, leaving no hand conveniently free to actually position the stick. This sort of manipulation of the carrier becomes more difficult in colder weather, when hands are cold and stiff and possibly gloved.
Carrying hockey sticks horizontally, with the wrist hanging unflexed from the arm, aids comfort, provided the sticks do not slide apart or become crossed. It would be advantageous for a carrier to firmly position one or more sticks, and to allow the quick, positive movement of the sticks to a vertical position to fit through tight spaces and avoid hitting others. To meet these and other objectives, it is one object of the invention to provide a lightweight handheld carrier into which a player can easily insert a shaft in such a way that the stick is easily balanced in the carrier upon insertion to reduce stress on the wrist. It is another object of the invention to provide a carrier in which the shafts, or the hand, may be readily repositioned to maintain the sticks in balance to reduce the stress on the wrist. It is still another object of the invention to provide a carrier from which the shafts may be readily extracted. It is a still further object of the invention to provide a carrier which may be readily moved to reposition the shafts to a vertical or other desired orientation.